Untraceable Review

FBI agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) works for the specialised cyber-crimes unit. Working nights gives her time with her daughter who she is raising with her mother's help, since losing her husband in the line of duty. On an average night Jennifer and her partner Griffin (played by son of Tom, Colin Hanks) catch someone running a credit card scam. One night, Jennifer sees a site called "killwithme.com" where a cat is being tortured. The torture increases with every click into the site until the cat is dead. The investigation begins when the next victim is human, and being tortured to death live on the Internet. Killwithme.com is untraceable and the media is driving more people to it time is running out while victims are mounting up.

If so far this is sounding a bit like a television crime show; it's because it almost feels like one. You could be forgiven for thinking you've walked into a movie version of CSI without the beloved regular cast. Without the key plot device of the Internet, this would be a fairly ordinary murder mystery. The online novelty of the plot isn't strong enough to carry a story that reveals the killer too soon, and plays a bit of cat and mouse before Jennifer Marsh casually explains the motivation for the killer's crimes and goes after him.

All that said "Untraceable" does have some good tense moments, and once the killer focuses his evil intent on the cyber-crimes unit and Jennifer Marsh herself, the pace finally picks up some speed. The killer is an interesting character too with an imaginative murderous streak and a morbid fascination for chemistry. Fans of crime programmes will inevitably enjoy this film but may feel it lacks that extra level of tension needed for the big screen.